Elon Musk’s company, Tesla, is working with the South Australian government to turn 50,000 homes into what they’re calling a “virtual power plant”.

Each home in the project will be equipped with a 5kW solar panel system and a 13.5kWh Tesla Powerwall 2, at no cost to the resident and funded entirely by the sale of excess electricity. These houses will become an interconnected power plant network.

The virtual power plant isn’t just for emergency situations, but for regular, day-to-day power requirements as the state seeks to move away from fossil fuels and into more sustainable electricity.

“My Government has already delivered the world’s biggest battery, of now we will deliver the world’s largest virtual power plant,” state premier Jay Weatherill said in a statement.

“We will use people’s homes as a way to generate energy for the South Australian grid, with participating households benefitting with significant savings in their energy bills.”

The trial, across 1,100 public housing properties, has already commenced. Systems are ready to be installed at a further 24,000 public housing properties, after which the program will be opened to all households in South Australia.